tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post2781228787626796778..comments2017-12-07T18:43:50.594-05:00Comments on Kabinettskriege: Kolin: Why did Frederick lose? Alex Burnsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-57957088295993214022017-06-23T10:59:01.914-04:002017-06-23T10:59:01.914-04:00A very interesting read. A very interesting read. Adam Carrierehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02279351293614637287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5744170830107487392.post-87951754700268049202017-06-22T19:16:41.150-04:002017-06-22T19:16:41.150-04:00Alex you are right in your conclusion that Kolin w...Alex you are right in your conclusion that Kolin was a close hard fought battle that the Prussians came close to winning.<br /> <br />Most People forget that at Kolin the Prussian attack was not an initial frontal assault but was an attack swinging around the Austrian right flank similar to what they did at the Battle of Prague the month prior. Most maps do not show the initial positions of the Austrians/Prussians mainly facing West/East prior to the start of the flank march that led to the battle that was Prussian/Austrian on a North/South axis. Frederick was smart in not launching a frontal assault against the initial Austrian position that mainly was facing west along the heights between Poborz and Swojschitz. When the Prussian attack started the Austrians were in place on Przerovsky Hill, but not on Krzeczhorz hill as Wied’s Inf Div was still redeploying from its initial West facing. It was the Croats who defending Krzeczhorz and the adjacent Swedish earthworks that slowed Hulsen down enough, allowing the Austrians to deploy on Krzeczhorz hill. The Prussian initial attack almost succeeded and the rest of the days hard fighting back and forth showed that it was not a foregone conclusion that the Austrians were going to win.<br /><br />Most people assume that the Austrians with a significantly larger number of men by over 40% more (20,000 men) than the Prussians, can steamroll them. What most games/scenarios fail to account for is the Higher Quality of the Prussians over the Austrians in 4 Areas. 1) The Prussian Inf/Cav are better trained and more experienced that the Austrian Inf/Cav. While the Austrians, especially the Inf, are improved from the WAS, they are not yet the Prussians equals. So each Prussian unit is better than one of its equivalent opposites. Items 2-4 are as a result of the emergency of a large part of the Austrian army being bottled up in Prague under siege. 2) About 20% of the total Inf were Grenz/Croat units. While these troops did a great job in delaying Hulsen’s attack, and could fight the Prussian Inf from defensible areas, they could not fight the Prussian Inf/Cav in the open like Austrian Fusilier Inf, so are limited in capability for Daun. 3) About 20% of the Austrian Reg Line Fusilier Inf were 3rd “depot” battalions of the regt. While these units are better than militia, they are surely not as good in quality as the normal Austrian Fusilier 1st/2nd battalions. 4) About 40% of the Austrian Cav is Lt Cav and not Battle Cav. In Daun’s relief army about 25% of the Cav was regular Hussars which is comparable to the normal 20-25% Lt Cav in an Austrian Field Army. But then an additional 15% of the Cav were Grenz Hussars that were less capable than the regular Hussars. <br /><br />In total about 60% of the Austrian numerical advantage was in Inf/Cav that were inferior to their normal Austrian unit types. If this is not properly represented on the tabletop, you do not get an accurate refight of Kolin.<br /><br />The main advantage of the Austrian positions on Przerovsky Hill and Krzeczhorz Hill is that they allowed Daun on them to see all of the Prussian movements and react to them, while shielding some of his movements from the view of the Prussians. The hills while excellent Artillery platforms are not steep, with a Grade of only 6% on both the lower and upper parts of the northern slopes where the Prussians attacked. Inf/Cav can march and charge like normal, except where the Swedish earthworks are which is a sudden high/steep defensible position. There were no fieldworks constructed by the Austrians to help them defend as they had not the time. So the Austrians were not in a highly defensible, impregnable position. Some players overrate the defensive nature of the hills in a wargame.<br />Jung Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09680162289671541029noreply@blogger.com